The Left Column

(National Journal) Earlier this month, Nancy Pelosi came out in full support of the U.S. nuclear deal with Iran, as she and fellow House Democrats were in the midst of what she called the "educational phase" of reviewing the agreement.

Now, two weeks later, she says she's "confident" that the House would be able to uphold the president's veto of a potential Republican-backed bill to kill the deal.

(MSNBC) Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, on July 16 ordered an investigation of Planned Parenthood facilities in Indianapolis, Bloomington and Merrillville to see if organs from aborted fetuses were being sold. He was among a number of conservative lawmakers around the country who have called for investigations after an anti-abortion group circulated a video it made secretly showing some of its national officials discussing how they obtain organs from aborted fetuses for research. Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest provider of abortions, has said its donations of fetal tissue for research are legal.

The Indiana Department of Health said in a statement Thursday that an investigation found no evidence of any laws being broken. Health department inspectors investigated the Indiana facilities on July 21.

Phil Gramm, a former three-term Republican senator from Texas who once ran the Senate Banking Committee, told the House Financial Services Committee yesterday that “it was an outrage” that his friend Edward Whitacre, the CEO of AT&T, only got “$75 million” when he retired in 2007.

“If there’s ever been an exploited worker” it was Whitacre, said Gramm, testifying on the fifth anniversary of passage of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. Gramm appeared genuinely aggrieved by Whitacre’s shabby treatment and literally pounded the table while speaking.

(HuffPo) "When President Ronald Reagan negotiated some significant arms reduction deals with the then-Soviet Union, he was considered a real hero, someone who was advocating for peace," Plame told host Alyona Minkovski. "Now when we have President Obama leading the administration push to have this deal go through Congress, he's labeled with the Chamberlain 'giving in' label."

(Political Wire) A new Public Policy Polling survey in Illinois finds Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) leading Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) in the U.S. Senate race, 42% to 36%. “There’s more bad news for Kirk: His approval rating has dropped to 25%.”

(NYT) Donald J. Trump seemed irritated. He had been grilled for two hours in a lawsuit over a failed Florida real estate project, and he told the lawyer that her questions were “very stupid.”

When the lawyer, Elizabeth Beck, asked for a medical break, Mr. Trump and his lawyers objected, demanding that the deposition continue. Ms. Beck said it was urgent — she needed to pump breast milk for her 3-month-old daughter, and she took the pump out to make her point.

Latest Breaking News

43 min ago - 10:38 EST, 2 August 2015
A second American has been named in a growing big game poaching investigation in Zimbabwe.
Pennsylvania Dr. Jan Seski is accused of killing a lion in April and his guides have been arrested in the African Country.
Dr. Seski ... (UK Daily Mail)

2 hrs ago - PRESS STATEMENT BY ZIMBABWE PARKS AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY ON MEASURES TO IMPROVE THE ADMINISTARTION OF HUNTING IN THE COUNTRY
Following the illegal killing of an iconic lion, Cecil, outside the Hwange National Park on Antoinette farm i ... (Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority)

2 hrs ago - by James Warren
Management at San Francisco-based Salon Media has agreed to start talks on a first union contract with its workers, it was disclosed Saturday.
“Salon Media has agreed to recognize the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) as the col ... (Poynter)

2 hrs ago - Three days after being critically wounded by an ultra-Orthodox man that went on a stabbing rampage at Jerusalem's Gay Pride Parade, Shira Banki, a 16-year-old Israeli teen succumbed to her wounds Sunday afternoon. Five other people were wounded in th ... (Haaretz.com)

5 hrs ago - By Robynn Tysver
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar may be in Hillary Clinton’s corner, but that doesn’t mean she has anything negative to say about Bernie Sanders.
Klobuchar, who was the keynote speaker Saturday at a Democratic dinner in La Vista, said Sande ... (Omaha World Herald)

5 hrs ago - President Barack Obama will Monday unveil what he called the “biggest, most important step we’ve ever taken” to fight climate change, a sensitive issue central to his legacy.
The White House will release the final version of America’s Clean Power Pl ... (Discovery)

5 hrs ago - A close aide of Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza has been killed in an attack on his car in the capital, Bujumbura.
Gen Adolphe Nshimirimana was a former army chief of staff and intelligence chief.
The attackers targeted his car in the Kamenge ... (BBC)

9 hrs ago - PARIS (AP) — A senior Malaysian official says that an object found in Reunion has been confirmed as "a domestic ladder" and is not a plane part, amid media reports that a new piece of plane debris was found on the island.
Malaysian Director General ... (AP)

9 hrs ago -
A rally and march organized by three sisters who were stopped by a police officer for biking topless a week ago was held Saturday in Waterloo, Ont.
Dozens of topless women — and men — attended the trio's "Bare With Us" rally at Waterloo Town Squar ... (The Canadian Press)

10 hrs ago - For the third time in barely more than four years, a Memphis police officer has been shot and killed in the line of duty.
Sean Bolton died from multiple gunshot wounds after he was shot just after 9:15 p.m. while conducting a traffic stop at Cotton ... (Memphis Commercial Appeal)

11 hrs ago - NEW YORK (AP) — Verizon and unions representing workers in nine states said employees will work without a contract as more negotiations are scheduled.
The wireless carrier and leaders of the Communications Workers of America and the International Br ... (AP)

16 hrs ago - By DANICA COTO
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley became the first Democratic presidential candidate to make a campaign stop in Puerto Rico this year as part of an effort to woo Latino voters.
He met Saturday with loc ... (AP)

17 hrs ago - by Jim Hook
Contract employees at Letterkenny Army Depot have voted overwhelmingly to unionize.
Workers casting secret ballots at the union office on Thursday voted by a near 4-to-1 margin (485-144) to join the International Association of Machinis ... (WITF)

19 hrs ago - Mike Snider
Shuttle drivers for Apple, Yahoo, eBay and several other Silicon Valley companies voted Saturday to approve a union wage and benefits package.
The drivers who transport workers to and from those tech firms, as well as to Zynga, Amtrak, ... (USA Today)

19 hrs ago - The first national green group to make an endorsement in the 2016 election just threw its weight behind Bernie Sanders.
Announced Saturday afternoon in New Hampshire, the endorsement from Friends of the Earth Action arrives amid rising frustration f ... (National Journal)

22 hrs ago - A federal judge has ordered the State Department to ask Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to certify under penalty of perjury that she has turned over some of the work-related emails she kept on a private server during the four years ... (Politico)

22 hrs ago - Trend Micro, an antivirus developer and internet security firm, allege they have uncovered a “fatal” bug latent in the code of Google Android phones, which could effect any Android with operating systems ranging from versions 4.3 to 5.1.1. According ... (Science Recorder)

22 hrs ago - Despite reports that Cecil the lion’s brother Jericho had been shot dead by a poacher, a field researcher at Hwange Lion Research said on Saturday: “He looks alive and well.”
Another conservation worker said the lion had been seen with a female earl ... (The Guardian)

23 hrs ago - HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwean wildlife authorities say they have suspended the hunting of lions, leopards and elephants in an area favoured by hunters following the killing of a lion popular with tourists.
The National Parks and Wildlife Authority ... (AP)

23 hrs ago -
Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his associates have begun to actively explore a possible presidential campaign, an entry that would upend the Democratic field and deliver a direct threat to Hillary Rodham Clinton, say several people who have ... (New York Times)

Yesterday - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been indicted on three charges by a grand jury in Collin County, two people close to the case told NBC 5 on Saturday.
The indictments were issued on Tuesday and immediately sealed, the sources said, adding they ... (NBCDFW.com)

Yesterday - HOUSTON (AP) —Problems have been fixed that led to about 2,100 work permits being mistakenly awarded under President Barack Obama's executive immigration action after a federal judge in Texas had put the plan on hold, the Justice Department said in n ... (AP)

Yesterday - JUBA: Thousands of civilians in South Sudan's upper Nile state face starvation after the government blocked aid groups from using the Nile river to deliver relief food, aid agencies have said.
The Nile is a transportation lifeline in a country with ... (Times of India)